Now

Page last updated: March 2025 | inspired by Derek Sivers and his Now project. 

Key: 🆕 = newest updates

Education and new skills: 🆕past years' that aren't set to advance too much this year as I focus on others: riding motorbikes, wine and spirits education (WSET,) additional SCUBA certifications, and windsurfing.  This year: kite boarding continuing  (10-12 hrs training so far, standing up, now need to STAY up!), sailing skills/certification (shifting from ASA training track to internationally-relevant SLC (Sailing License and Credentials). Hope to line up swift/whitewater rescue training and additional avalanche terrain travel (AIARE) if possible. Unlikely to fit in Wilderness First Responder training this year. I've been distilling the idea of language study abroad, almost certainly Spanish, in small doses - Central America seems like the best option with Guatemala and Colombia consistently confirming the best basis (most transportable).

Travel: holistic goal is to have visited as many countries as my age (I have a lot of catching up to do) which is just a simple quantification. The specific goal is a qualitative list of places and activities. To that end, 2025 plans are for more travel abroad and domestically I'm  focused on visiting national parks and monuments and seeking out some classic climbs whenever possible. More at Travel. Also enjoying hosting travelers to Pittsburgh whenever I am home by way of the Couchsurfing platform.

Climbing: continuing to seek out new meccas of rock and ice (CA in winter 2023 and the Dolomites in 2024, back to Yosemite in 2025). One mountain was still of interest: Alpamayo in Peru - ACHIEVED (bonus: summit!) in 2023. Achieved goal of 50 summits in 2022, and a few more on top of that. I'm now content - no more mountains of serious interest, though I'm not ready to stop altogether - there will be more, just not burning desires (Forbidden/Torment Traverse, Mt. Sir Donald, maybe an 8K meter, etc.) More at Climbing.

Adventure/Exploration: one BIG new goal is in the works for 2026, more to come soon. 🆕

Reading: definitely back into reading now that I'm "retired" (rewired); trying to read at least 20 books per year and exceeding that goal currently. Good balance of fiction and non-fiction. More at Books.

Brainwork: the New York Times crossword puzzles (see 2 news items), 2 years running now, still really enjoying them and getting better as time goes on. January 2025 was my best month so far.

Financial Independence: volunteering with the Pittsburgh ChooseFI network to administer the group, have meetups for discussion, etc. to share my knowledge and learn from others.

Interactive Fiction (IF): dove back into this old passion of mine last year. Playing some adventures, small and large. Watching documentaries, listening to podcasts, coming up to date with the community. Re-developing my own, old adventures in new tools and code such as TAB, Twine, Adrift, and Inform.  My second IF game called Xanadu is available on ThinBASIC Adventure Builder's (TAB) Catventure site. My first game called Palace of the Silver Princess is available upon request. More at Indoors/Interactive Fiction. 2025 I hope to get to recoding my third old game in Inform - AI tools are likely to lend a big assist.

Personal Pantheon / Tribe of Mentors:  If I could have regular get togethers, calls, drinks, or conversations with these people, they would be my set of mentors (big/broad thinkers, bright lights, mavens,  polymaths, and modern day philosophers). As it is, I am resigned to virtual relationships by tuning into their conversations and creative work via the many channels available. Derek Sivers, Tim Ferriss, Kevin Kelly, Tim Urban, Ryan Holiday, Rolf Potts, Sam Harris, Oliver Burkman, David Eagleman, Morgan Housel, Esther Perel, Jamie Wheal, Peter Adeney and a few others living and dead (Seneca, Marcus Aurelius, and Epictetus). Send me your additional recommendations!

For more detailed, blog-like news, see...well...News!